Marquez leads the way at rainy Valencia, Pedrosa positive at 5th-fastest

Almost uninterrupted rainfall marked day one of the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana, at times hard enough to force Race Direction to red-flag both FP1 and FP2 due to track conditions.

Marc Marquez set the fastest lap of the day in 1’39.767”, with Dani Pedrosa—newly named as a MotoGP Legend—in fifth place at 1’40.467”. Both lap times were made in the morning.

With weather forecasts also showing a chance of rain for tomorrow, Marc and Dani secured provisional top-10 spots that could put them straight into Q2 if rain actually does disrupt the FP3 proceedings.

Marc Marquez

1st 1'39.767

“Honestly, it was a difficult day because not only were there wet conditions with a lot of water, but also because it was very cold. When there’s so much water on track, it’s a kind of lottery, and the only thing you can do is try not to crash. This situation made things more complicated, but luckily the track here in Valencia has very good drainage and very good grip all things considered, and this allowed us to actually ride today. That said, I felt very good on the bike and was able to feel the limit and be fast, which is very important. It looks like the weather will be a bit better tomorrow, only to worsen again on Sunday, so we need to be ready for whatever condition we may find if we wish to fight for the podium.”

Dani Pedrosa

5th 1'40.467

“It seems it’s going to rain quite a lot this weekend! The track changes when the water increases, and in some points it’s a bit difficult to ride. That was the case this afternoon, so I just did very few laps. On the other hand, when there’s a bit less water, like at a certain point during FP1, you can be much faster. So we must wait and see what conditions we’ll have over the weekend. This will also affect the tyre choice and the rhythm of the race.”

MotoGP 2018Friday, November 16th 2018

Practice
Round 19
Gran Premio de la Comunitat ValencianaValencia

Combined Free Practice Classification

Rain

Humidity

95%

Track Temp

15°C

Air Temp

17°C

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

1'39.767

2

Miller Jack

43

AUS

Pramac Racing

Ducati

1'39.873 / 0.106

3

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

Pramac Racing

Ducati

1'39.907 / 0.140

4

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

1'40.179 / 0.412

5

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

1'40.467 / 0.700

6

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

1'40.685 / 0.918

7

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

1'40.772 / 1.005

8

Pirro Michele

51

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

1'40.836 / 1.069

9

Espargaro Pol

44

SPA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

1'40.892 / 1.125

10

Rins Alex

42

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

1'40.965 / 1.198

11

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

1'40.967 / 1.200

12

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

1'41.015 / 1.248

13

Zarco Johann

5

FRA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

1'41.146 / 1.379

14

Abraham Karel

17

CZE

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

1'41.160 / 1.393

15

Simeon Xavier

10

BEL

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

1'41.277 / 1.510

16

Bradl Stefan

6

GER

LCR Honda

Honda

1'41.479 / 1.712

17

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

1'41.489 / 1.722

18

Morbidelli Franco

21

ITA

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

1'41.713 / 1.946

19

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

Ducati Team

Ducati

1'41.782 / 2.015

20

Nakagami Takaaki

30

JPN

LCR Honda

Honda

1'42.471 / 2.704

21

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

1'42.617 / 2.850

22

Redding Scott

45

GBR

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

1'42.857/ 3.090

23

Luthi Tom

12

SWI

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

1'43.000 / 3.233

24

Syahrin Hafizh

55

MAL

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

1'43.727 / 3.960

25

Torres Jordi

81

SPA

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

1'45.001 / 5.234

Gallery

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Location Information

The Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana was completed in 1999 and held rounds of the MotoGP and Spanish Motorcycle Championships in the same year. The Cheste track has several layouts, running anti-clockwise with varying lengths. MotoGP events are held on a 4km track comprising of five right handed corners, eight… read more.

Location Information

The Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana was completed in 1999 and held rounds of the MotoGP and Spanish Motorcycle Championships in the same year. The Cheste track has several layouts, running anti-clockwise with varying lengths. MotoGP events are held on a 4km track comprising of five right handed corners, eight… read more.